ART BLOG:

This week I've made a larger, stand alone version of the small octopus's that I've been putting on the side of pots. I enjoyed getting to add more detail to this guy because of his larger size. I threw the bulb of the head on the wheel instead of making a pinch pot for it like I've been doing in the past. I hope he turns out nice!

I took a class in linoleum printing a few years ago. I liked it, but the work I did wasn’t great, because I didn’t spend much time on planning my design and got a little frustrated with how long the carving took. It didn’t help that I was being graded and had time restraints on the project.

My lovely husband recently bought me this gorgeous lino print from littleRamstudio as a Christmas gift, and it’s inspired me to give it another go.

I took my octopus bottle (from a few posts ago) out of the kiln this morning, and I think it’s just gorgeous! I couldn’t be happier with the glaze.

Making this piece was very easy and straightforward, but I wasn’t counting on how difficult glazing it was. I glazed the bottle first, carefully avoiding the octopus, and then put a coat of wax on the glaze that I applied. I then glazed the octopus, counting on the wax to repel the octopus glaze from the bottle, but what I wasn’t counting on was all of the pooling between the tentacles. It took about an hour just to remove the excess glaze on the wax.

I’m glad I took the time to get it right, though, because I know from experience that a bad glaze job can completely ruin an otherwise perfect piece of pottery. I’m thinking for the next one, I’ll glaze the octopus in a red.

I recently had my elements and thermocouples replaced in the kiln, and decided to take it as an opportunity to clean up the garage for a new beginning of sorts.

​I got these shelves from the Macs warehouse, and now, instead of my kiln supplies being scattered around the garage with my dad’s power tools, everything is right there beside the kiln (about 2 feet away, although it looks closer in the photos).

I’ve also now got a shelf to dry pottery next to the kiln, when the garage heats up during a firing!

There are a lot of potters that add octopuses (octopi?) to vases, bowls, sinks, etc., and it always looks really cool - I’ve never seen it done badly, so, tonight, I decided to give it a go myself.

I threw this large bottle on the wheel, and then made a little round pinch pot for the bulb of the octopus’ head. While that dried up a bit, I pulled some legs like I would a handle for a mug - but bringing them to a point rather than trying to keep them a consistent width - and I placed them onto the pot in organic, twisty ways. I then attached the head, added some eyes and joined the legs to the face (using a photo for anatomical reference).

Tomorrow, when the piece is a little drier, I’ll carve out some detail in his face and tentacles, and start planning how to glaze him.

As a side note: My life sized bust from a few posts ago is fired and glazed, there’s photos of him in the “ceramics for display” section!

Today, along with some mugs and ornaments, I decided to make myself a sign to hang on the wall. It’s stoneware painted with underglazes. The carved parts are going to fire to a white, and the coloured parts will get more vibrant. I’ll finish it with a clear glaze, and add some wire to the back to hang it up. Excited to see it finished!